Chapter 1: I Am

Chapter 1 of my novel Genesis. The first glimpse of the everyday life of Korbin Amazia, what he goes through, how he lives.

She leaned against the nearby wall, clutching tightly to her books, holding them close to her chest. She was deep in conversation, lost in thought. She laughed a vibrant, full laugh that drew in my focus even further. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it, why she was so captivating, so enthralling, so beguiling, so…so…Sarah.

She stood about five and a half feet tall, not the tallest girl I’ve ever met, by any means, but she had a commanding presence that made up for her lack of height. She was thin, but muscled. Not a gross amount of muscle, like a six pack, or massive bulging thighs that made you uncomfortable, but just the perfect amount.

She was a cheerleader, the best of them. Those flips professional people do, those who train years and years to get the flexibility to perform, that’s her, she can do them, and with ease. I’d seen it. I’d watched her. Now, that sounds creepy, but it’s not, I promise.

Her light brown hair flowed to her shoulders, a straight mass of beauty that framed the perfect, chiseled features of her face. Chiseled is typically a term used for men, but she had it, and not chiseled as in a broad jaw, and all that weird stuff, but, like, perfect. Her blue eyes stared at the person she was speaking to, Jules, or someone, but probably Jules. They were in a deep conversation, still.

Sarah’s eyes flitted to me, a quick, subtle look that set my heart racing. I averted mine, careful to avoid any possible attention I wasn’t ready for. What if she talked to me? What would I do? Honestly, I would probably stop and stare at her face, not, like, at her face, but through her face. Not specifically through either, but, like, through her. I don’t know.

Her eyes moved back to Jules. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and then my eyes were immediately back on her. She knew I was watching. I could tell. She couldn’t hide it from me, but I couldn’t help it.

It’s terrible, I know, but she was so stunning, beyond stunning. Who wouldn’t stare? She’s so out of my league.

My ears tuned in. It was my intent to listen a little to her voice, to hear the soft sonnets that left her mouth every single time she spoke. If she spoke to me, I’d faint, let’s just be real. But, despite my desire to hear her voice, I heard something entirely different.

He came up quick, almost catching me off guard, but I braced for impact immediately as I caught wind of his feet coming towards me, and then his shoulder pressing against my chest in a hard thud that sent me into the wall. My head smashed against it, cracking a small tile but leaving no trace of blood. How could it? He couldn’t hurt me. No one could.

Erik was a little above average in height, maybe six feet if you counted his hair, which he typically kept pretty short unless he got lazy. He wasn’t one to style it, but, somehow, without any gel or whatever, he managed to keep the buzzed sides, and short top in some semi-spiked style that made him look good. Honestly, he probably woke up like that and felt ok with it.

He was muscular, and uncommonly handsome, which I was fine with admitting even though he was a jerk. He had an ugly heart, how about that? Erik was the type of person that, even in the off season, would be working out and running to make sure he stayed in tip-top shape. He was the starting quarterback for the football team, so, he took it as his obligation to do whatever he could to stay the best, which, admittedly, he was the best, unless I joined the team, and then I’d be the best.

His eyes were a deeper shade of blue and looked like oceans pooling around the dark pupil. His eyes clenched in a sort of anger, but were more just defensive.

I looked into Erik’s deep blue eyes fiercely, annoyed that he had so suddenly jerked me out of my reverie and forced me into the wall. A fist clenched at my side.

Erik looked down at it and then back at my fierce gaze and laughed, “What? Do you expect to hit me?”

Anger washed over me. I wanted to. I really wanted to, but I couldn’t, and he knew it.

“Thought so,” he said as I unclenched my fist.

Even if he knew, if he was certain that I would hit him, Erik wasn’t the type of person to back down. He wanted it. I shook my head.

“Now to business,” he began, staring into my eyes. “Eyes. Off.” He emphasized sharply. I knew what he was talking about.

It was stupid. I was pretty sure he and Sarah didn’t have a thing, and, regardless, even if they did, they weren’t dating, so whatever sense of stupid protection this was, he was just using it to flesh out some anger. I could sense it in him. It wasn’t really about her. So I let him do what he felt he needed to. I was just angry he wouldn’t let me look at her.

“Erik,” Sarah scolded sharply, placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling him back a little, loosening his grip on me.

I stayed on the wall.

Erik pulled back fully once she spoke. His face flushed red in embarrassment. “Sorry,” he said.

“Do not apologize to me,” Sarah responded, redirecting his focus to me. “I am not the one you shoved needlessly into a wall.”

Erik looked to me with a single eye, but kept most of his attention on Sarah. “I won’t apologize to him.”

Sarah looked to me and asked a question without a voice.

I shrugged.

She pulled her hand off, “Fine, but don’t think this behavior is ok, Erik. You know better.”

Erik’s face flushed more. He had been scolded like a child in front of over a dozen people. I smiled at him, making certain he would see that I took humor in his embarrassment.

“Stop,” he snarled, pulling his fist back.

Sarah gripped his hand and pulled it down.

“Erik, enough,” Sarah commanded.

He dropped his fist again and looked away so that no one could see his face.

“That goes for you too, Korbin. Stop patronizing him.”

Erik pulled his arm out of Sarah’s grip and began to walk away, quickly turning down an adjacent hallway and tripping into a bathroom. I could only hope that someone saw.

“Why do you do this?” Sarah asked, turning her gaze to me after watching Erik leave.

“Hey! He shoved me, remember!” I shot back. Hey, whaddaya know? I could talk to her.

“And you shoved back.”

“I did no-” I stammered out.

Sarah held up a hand, “You did, just not by force.”

“Such wise words, thanks mom,” I complained. Oh-no, what had I done.

Sarah chuckled, “You are very welcome, son, anything to help.” She pinched my cheek.

“What the…” I thought. I brought my hand up to my cheek, after she had moved her own away, and rubbed it softly. “What was that for?” I asked in confusion.

“Stop complaining. You are the one who asked to be treated like a child.”

“Um, excuse me. No one ever asks to be treated like a child.”

“Well, you did, so I am not quite certain your logic is sound here,” she retorted.

“You hate me. Is that what this is?” I asked dryly.

“I do not hate you, Korbin. I simply wish for you to try a little harder to not be so arrogant.”

“Arrogant,” I said loudly, gesturing for no reason at all.

“Yes, Korbin, arrogant.”

“How dare you,” I joked modestly.

Sarah laughed, “Stop, you are making a scene.”

“A scene? I-I” I stuttered. “Oh, I’m making a scene?”

Sarah laughed again, a sweet, melodic laugh, and then turned around and walked back to Jules, taking back the few textbooks she had apparently handed to her before she stepped in to stop the fight, thing.

“Oh, and you’re leaving just like that?” I said, trying to push the useless, and humorous argument as far as it could go.

“Well, someone has to be the adult here,” she responded coolly and nodded for Jules to follow her as she walked away.

“We’re sixteen!” I called after her, throwing my hands up into the air.

Sarah turned her head and smiled at me brightly.

“What just happened,” I said out loud to no one in particular.

“You just had a flirting match with the most popular girl in school,” the stocky, short-haired freshmen named Josh responded without prompting, patting me on the back.

My face turned red. I could feel it. Eleven other people just heard him say that. I think I died. “Who asked you?” I finally responded, looking into his eyes unhappily. I couldn’t hold it. I had to walk away.

I headed towards my class. It would be the only place right now that I could go and feel safe from whatever that was. I could feel my heart racing. Was this what a heart attack felt like? It couldn’t be. I was still standing. Oh my goodness. What the what?

I contemplated going on some mental tangent about how I could tear Erik apart, and all that blah blah, but, I was already aware of the power I possessed, and no one would be in my head to listen, so what would be the point? Then again, I mean, I could tear him apart. Not to mention how much he frustrates me.

It wasn’t the first time he had done something like that, but Sarah had never been around before to stop him, which probably made him feel just as uncomfortable as it made me feel. He, in reality, probably didn’t even care. He just wanted to make a scene, and he succeeded, but I got the better half of it.

I smiled as I strode into my empty classroom.

No one was there, as per usual.

I walked down the third row and headed straight for my desk, which was the fifth one back. There were seven rows of seven, most of which were filled once classes began. I slid into my seat hard, slamming my hip against the opposite end where a bar rose up diagonally to connect the writing portion of the desk to the seat. I felt the bar adjust immediately and a screw popped out, bounced off my thigh and rolled onto the floor, where I left it.

“Oops,” I said as I planted my face on my desk and stared out the window, quickly losing myself in thought.

Eastwood high was a peculiar place. It was full of the average kid’s, obviously, but, like all high schools, it had its own unique flair to it, one that I couldn’t quite place exactly, though there are plenty of quirks I can point out immediately.

Take the classrooms for example. Literally every single day is the same. Class in the morning starts at 7:50, the usual time, of which everyone is aware. So, you expect that kids would start filing into class a little early to make sure they weren’t counted absent, or late, but no, not even a little bit.

Every single student, except me, and probably Sarah, because she’s perfect, gets to class almost the very moment that the bell rings, every day, and they have it down to a T. Everyone knows when they need to start toning down on their conversations and head to class, and, as if on que, every voice in the hallway falls silent and the sound of footsteps echoes throughout the corridors, and somehow everyone makes it, except for those kids who just have a habit of being late.

Nobody ever felt the pressure of time constraints. Nobody cared. The teachers don’t crack down on it, so why should the students care about it. That’s undoubtedly why every student finds it appropriate to come to class, basically, late.

Though, after a multitude of times, probably actually just three or four, the teachers will crack the whip and yell at us, even though I have nothing to do with it, and complain that we have no respect, and that we’re so disrespectful. But they don’t do anything about it. How can they expect anyone to change if they don’t even care?

On top of that, most of the teachers hate discipline, so, to make matters worse, when kids are late, they do nothing, but also nothing gets done, and, because of that, nothing happens, ever. It’s a very amusing cyclical pattern, but it won’t change, so I’m used to it.

I sighed and focused my attention on the old oak outside the window. Its leaves were showing signs of the beginning of fall. I could see it, but I doubt that anyone else would be able to.

The small fibers of the leaves were beginning to wither and loosen their grip on the tree’s branches. Small parts of the leaves, barely noticeable, were beginning to lose color, but by a mere shade, barely noticeable.

A small bird chirped within its branches. My eyes darted around the parts of the tree, searching for the bird. Eventually I found it. It was high up in the tree, cuddled close to the dark trunk. Its down was nearly the same color as the tree, which made it difficult to spot, but, unlike the bark the bird moved.

I wanted to be like that bird right now. Not stuck in class feeling imprisoned, but out in the open air with the freedom to move about as I pleased, soaring through the skies as no one else could. I wanted to be out there.

But, as much as that were true, it was difficult to ever make that happen. If I wanted to fly, it had to be at night, and if I wanted to fly for an extended period of time, then I had to somehow find a way to keep my parents distracted for as long as I was in the air, and, that would be highly unlikely given the fact that they would be sleeping, probably, and could wake up at any time to check on me.

I do, however, frequently imagine what people would do if they saw me soaring through the skies. Obviously, I wouldn’t fly close enough to the ground that someone could get a clear picture of me, and I would move fast enough to make certain that I was blurry just in case someone happened to have a telescope that could take pictures too.

But, I mean, I think about it a lot, me bursting through the skies, clearly human, unnatural. What would people think? Would they be afraid? Would they be happy? Excited? The only thing keeping me from blasting off into the skies in broad daylight was my ever present conscious nagging at me, telling me how unwise it would be for me to be seen. But, in the end, whatever people thought, it wouldn’t matter.

They would all expect something from me. A human being with the power of a god at his fingertips, they would all ask something of me, wish something on me, whatever that may be. Ultimately, I would be hunted down, maybe even found, not that they would be able to contain me, but they could talk to me.

They’d ask stuff of me. Do this, do that, we’ll give you this, give you that. None of it would matter. I would just be another mercenary, except, the difference with me would be that I would be unstoppable, but there would be no offer they could give me that could sufficiently satisfy what I desired: freedom, purpose.

I truly wanted purpose. I possess power, but have no reason at all to use it. There are no creatures to fight that could stand against me, no war that would last once I entered the fold. I want wars to end, yes, but I don’t want to cause carnage, because that is what I would do. Too much would be asked of me; again, everyone would expect something of me, and I can’t live up to those standards.

“Good morning,” the voice of Mrs. Schultze suddenly said, popping the bubble of my reverie.

I sat up quickly and jumped slightly in my seat. I hadn’t noticed her come in, let alone hear her come near. “Holy sh-” I began before she cut me off.

“Korbin Amazia! Watch your mouth,” she commanded.

“Sorry,” I apologized sincerely. I never swore. That was a total accident. “I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Well, find another word to express your surprise,” she suggested, tapping the eraser side of her pencil on my desk.

“Yes, ma’am,” I agreed respectfully.

Mrs. Schultze was pretty much the only teacher within Eastwood that was one hundred percent deserving of respect, and she got it. She laid down the law no matter who it was. She didn’t play favorites, or so it appeared. She didn’t let anything slip past her either.

If a homework assignment was missed, she would give grace, but only to a point. If it happened consistently, she would lower the points you could get back by a certain percentage every time until, after three or four, it wasn’t even worth it to do the assignment.

She was equally strict as she was caring. She was young, beautiful, and full of energy. She didn’t just deserve respect. She commanded it.

Today, as usual, she wore her curly red locks, which were soft and bouncy like a trampoline. Her green eyes stood out vibrantly against the spiraling yellow dress she wore. Even without such a brightly colored dress, her mere presence brightened up the room.

Mrs. Schultze had just turned twenty-three the past summer, but she had already received her master’s in teaching, and gotten married in the same week just before the start of the previous summer. She had a brilliant mind.

I suddenly felt a wave of tiredness wash over me. It wasn’t unusual for me to feel tired, especially with nights like last night where I just spent my time doing practically nothing high up in the sky, but it was nights like those I slept the best, but not for very long because I was out late.

“Good morning, Mrs. Schultze,” I finally responded with a sigh.

I honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of talking so soon after I had woken up. I talked to Sarah because, well, Sarah, but beyond that I really took no pleasure in conversation before lunch time. I just frequently had to, so I had no choice but to try and be happy about it.

She nodded at me as she reached her desk, “How are you doing today?” she asked, placing the pencil she had in her hand on the thick desk beside her pencil sharpener.

“I’m doing good,” I began.

“Doing well,” she immediately corrected.

I sighed again. “I’m just tired,” I finally said.

“That’s no good. Did you go to sleep late?”

“Yeah, I was busy,” I said. “Oh, and, also, one of the screws on my desk broke,” I noted comically, shifting my butt back and forth in my chair to show her how it moved. It creaked once, but didn’t have the full effect I had desired.

“That is no good,” she repeated. “And don’t worry about the chair, I’ll ask one of the janitors to come in later and take a look at it!”

She appeared to be done talking. I hoped that she was done. She began to file through some of the folders she had placed on her desk at the end of the day yesterday, but her silence was too much to ask for. “How did you do on your homework? Were you able to get it done alright?”

Oh, this wouldn’t be too bad. “I actually had a question about number seven, the one about the Civil War?”

I timed my little charade perfectly. The bell rang and time was up.

I had heard the conversations fall silent and the horde of footsteps began as hundreds of students made their way from the hallways towards their empty classrooms where the teachers stood in wait for their prey. The student’s funneled into the class in ones, twos and sometimes threes.

Most of the students were talking to each other, assorted smiles and other expressions plastered on their faces. I tuned in to each of their individual conversations, listening intently to the chorus of quiet voices. Most of their conversations were random, and that description was more than just because I randomly decided to listen to them.

“How’s your dad?” Aaron was asking Peter, “Is he still in the hospital or did they release him and let him come back home?”

“Is my make-up running? I feel like its running,” self-conscious about the way she looked as always, Maybelle was complaining about the make-up she had applied herself.

“Maybelle,” Shawna laughed giddily in response, “the only reason your make-up would be running is if you bawled this morning, and you didn’t, did you?” she asked seriously.

James lumbered in near the back of the group silently, as he always did, and took a seat by the back wall. Laying his head on the wall and falling asleep instantly. Erik walked in at the very end, far behind everyone else and right as Mrs. Schultze’s voice abruptly pierced the wall of noise at exactly the same time the bell dinged, causing everyone to fall silent almost instantly, give or take the few squeaks that some students released as they were startled by both noises. Erik walked to his desk and sat down silently. Mrs. Schultze watched him the entire way, seeming like she was going to say something then decided against it. He was usually on time, so I guess that would explain why she just let it go.

“Alright kids, it’s time for class to start,” Mrs. Schultze said loudly. Everyone fell silent instantly.

Most of the class period consisted of Mrs. Schultze explaining the Civil War assignment we had completed, well, the one that most of us had completed. After that, she explained the group project that would be due Friday, the project that I would most likely be the only one in my group to actually work on. I was always put into one of those groups where everyone else just lazes around and does nothing, while I do all the work. It was Wednesday, so we only had the rest of today and tomorrow to do the entire project. It wasn’t necessarily a huge project, but, still, I hoped that I would actually get into a group that would do something more substantial than nothing.

She began to assign groups.

I could only hope.

“Peter,” she began. “You, Aaron and Jason will be the first group.”

The trio mumbled and fist bumped each other. They were good friends.

“The last time I had you three together you worked surprisingly well. I want to see that same energy this time,” she complimented. “Maybelle, Jessie, Samuel L. and Damon, I expect no less of you than Peter’s group.”

She scanned the list. I was curious to know if she was picking these groups as she spoke.

“Hmm,” she hummed, pausing. “James, Tyler,” she moved her finger down the list and casted an eye in James’ direction. “JAMES,” she yelled, forcing the boy awake.

James jumped about a foot in the air and then stared at Mrs. Schultze, stunned. Everyone burst out into harmonious laughter. A few students even clapped their hands in pure ecstasy.

“James,” Mrs. Schultz continued, smiling at him. “You will be with Tyler, Karen, and Samuel O.” She barreled onwards and my heart stopped. “Sarah, Erik and Korbin, you three will be together as well.”

I stopped paying attention to her immediately after she said my name. I could swear if my eyes gigged out and I fell out of my chair and had a heart attack I wouldn’t even mind. Although that’s not true, that would probably have been preferred to being in a group with Erik. In that moment I hated life.

“Ugh,” I thought. “WHY!?”

I looked over to Erik and immediately recognized a similar look on his face. It was an almost exact reaction, but that didn’t make much sense. Did he think I hated him too? Maybe it was because of Sarah, but no, that would be far too awkward. I had seen them together. Their interactions were far too friendly to be more than friends. He was totally friend zoned, no doubt about it. But, in the off chance that I was wrong, and he liked her too, I would be much less happy than I already was to be in a group with him. I might actually punch him if that were the case.

But, according to his heart rate, it wasn’t because he liked Sarah, so I can cross punching him off of my list of things to do today. It wasn’t because of her, thank God. He actually thought I hated him, weird.

Mrs. Schultze finished matchmaking and directed us all to get into our groups and talk about what our roles would be in the project, then she stopped talking, went to her desk, sat down, and immediately immersed herself in some other form of work.

Goodbye cruel world. I’ll see you when I’ve escaped Dante’s inferno.

The other groups could be heard both quietly and loudly talking about their projects. They were all fine with their groups. Lucky kids got to be with people they like talking to. I got Sarah, which was awesome, after this morning I would be fine talking to her for the rest of eternity, but I got Erik too.

Erik, Sarah and I sat in silence, complete and utter silence, and for minutes. For the entirety of those minutes, Sarah glanced between Erik and I, her face shifting and contorting into all forms of discontentment until she finally spoke up.

“Ugh!” She exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of other groups for a moment. She waited until they looked away before saying anything else. Her voice quieted, “Guys! Are you serious? Enough with you two!”

She always had so much force in her words. Even when she quieted down it was like if I didn’t listen to her that I would be chased by a rabid super bull, and I would be wearing red pajamas. What a sight to behold.

“The two of you need to get over yourselves, at least for the remainder of this project. When we are done, and I mean after this class period on Friday, then you can go back to whatever this stupid feud is and whatever dumb reason you hate each other for.” It looked as if she was about to bare her teeth and growl, but she wasn’t really angry at all, she was just trying to settle the animosity between Erik and I. She was doing a good job. “Maybe you will both even get along for once in your lives,” she continued. “And stop looking at each other like you are going to stick out your tongues. Children do that. You have more self-control.”

“Now,” Sarah said as Erik and I looked away from her cold gaze. “What is important right now is this assignment, well,” she chuckled softly, and adorably, “there are other things that are important too, but, I mean, right now, in this moment. We need to focus on this project. I have no desire to fail it, or even get remotely close to that.” She pumped her fist in the air.

I face-palmed immediately.

“We will conquer this project like the French to the Bastille!!”

I will never understand how she wasn’t embarrassed to do that in public. I mean, her face didn’t even minutely turn a shade, and she just kept on rolling with it. There were no noticeable signs that announcing that she was going to conquer  a project even fazed her.

Sarah had so much confidence. I was the one with the super powers, how did she get the confidence? Maybe she knew something I didn’t, or she just didn’t care. I cared. How could I not care?

She was right, though. Erik and I needed to set aside our petty squabbles and do something productive with our lives, otherwise nothing would get done.

“So,” I said, drawing it out as long as I could, purposely making it awkward. “What’s the plan, stan?”

“We could start with George Washington!” Erik suggested immediately.

“I’m sorry, what?” was all I was able to say.

“George Washington,” he repeated.

“Stop.”

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Erik,” Sarah finally said, doing more than I could manage. “George Washington was not a part of the Civil War,” Sarah corrected him, laughing vibrantly.

“Uh-uh,” he stammered. “Duh,” he said, “I know. I’m just testing you.” He smiled, letting his embarrassment fade away.

I even let myself laugh a little, not even at his embarrassment, just in amusement. It was different. I wasn’t thinking about what he might think of me, and he wasn’t thinking of what I thought of him. We just sat and talked about the project and other random stuff throughout the rest of the class period. No snarky comments towards each other, or hateful glares, just normal conversation, and it felt good. Sarah really worked her magic on us.

The day finished quickly and I found myself outside on the bleachers staring up into the sun. It didn’t hurt me, I kind of liked being able to see it in all of its glory. Clouds would frequently roll on through, covering up the luminescence of the sun in their wisps. It was cool to see how they brightened as the beams of light relentlessly tried to break through.

            I soaked in the daylight, loving every minute of it.

            “Your eyes are going to fall out of your face any moment now,” a girls voice suddenly broke through my daydreaming.

            I didn’t jump, not this time. I wasn’t even startled. Maybe if I was fully human I would have been, but I wasn’t so focused on the sun that something like that would freak me out. I had learned my lesson with my daydreaming this morning. Though, I honestly hadn’t heard her coming. Too distracted by my surroundings I guess.

            “Naw, I’ll be fine,” I responded casually, looking up into the blue eyes of Sarah. Her face was perfectly framed by beams of light, and had just the perfect amount of shadows flowing around her.

            She was out so late after school because of Cheerleading. Practice had been going on for a while now, but they were apparently taking a break, which she, for some reason, used to come talk to me. Yay!

I was actually there to watch the football practice, but she was a plus too.

She laughed symphonically. “Sounds like you.”

“Huh,” I thought. “Sounds like me? What does that mean?” I asked.

She smiled with sincerity, “It means that I know what you are like. You like to think, to daydream. I have seen you. I think it is cute.”

“Well, good, I’m overwhelmingly glad you think I’m cute,” I teased, immediately blushing at her flattery.

“Did I say that you are cute?” she asked, thoughtful. “I did say your daydreaming was cute.”

“Oh…”

She punched me in the arm, a good windup. “I am kidding. Of course you are cute,” she said, staring at the field as if she had said nothing out of the ordinary.

I blushed even more. I could feel the redness in my cheeks.

“Well,” she said, standing up. “I have to head off,” she didn’t even give me time to react to her previous comment. “Practice and all, you know!”

I did.

I finally started to head home around six, after watching the constant and vigorous exercise routines of both the football team and the cheerleading squad. I almost felt sore myself just watching what they had to do, but, then again, I had never really felt sore, so I don’t know what sore feels like.

I chuckled under my breath. What if I joined the team? They would freak. The entire team thinks I’m a lanky nerd. I’m not lanky, but I am smart. But they also underestimate me constantly. It would be a good run to show them that I’m not as dull as I may seem.

We all have our skills. Sarah is smart and popular. Erik is athletic, along with other traits I can’t quite place yet. And I am smart and powerful, but would my only absolution for joining the team be to get the girl and gain some popularity? That couldn’t be my only incentive. No, I think I could be a better person for it. I’d gain some authority. I could stand up to people, and they would respond with respect. I would be popular, and have friends, and people to talk to. I guess that decided it then. I’ll go talk to the football coach in the morning and tell him I want to join football. He’s obviously going to laugh, but he’ll undoubtedly let me try out for the laughs that he would get from watching me get tackled and humiliated a few times, which he wouldn’t actually get to see. Oh well, my decision was made.

I had started to walk home about an hour after the football team had finished with practice. There was no one else around. I could feel it, but I still chose to walk, and slowly too. I took it at an easy pace. At the rate I was going it would take me at least another hour to get home, which wouldn’t leave much time to work on the history project, or any of my other homework for that matter. I’d get my other stuff done first, because it would be simple, and then write up an outline for the project so that, by tomorrow during class, I could show Erik and Sarah a general idea of what we could do. Both of them could be doing the exact same thing as I would be doing soon myself. By tomorrow we could have three different ideas for the same project. It wouldn’t be a bad thing. We could combine our ideas and form something even better out of them, and none of us would be opposed to that, hopefully.

It wasn’t the project that was dominating my mind at the moment, though, Erik is. I was still confused about why Erik may be thinking that I hate him. Obviously I’m not certain that’s what he was thinking, and I’m not a fan of jumping to conclusions, but his emotions were running rampant, just like mine were, and at the same time. It was almost certain that’s what he was feeling.

He had glanced in my direction a few times during practice. They all knew I was there, and it wasn’t the first time I had sat in on practice. He didn’t show any emotion on his face when he saw me, except for sweat and a lot of strain, but he typically tended to ignore me when I watched the team, so, for him, looking at me was unusual, especially the multiple times he did it in the middle of rigorous routines.

I got home right as the sun began to lay at rest on the horizon. The sunset was shining with a beautiful pink and orange glow and was riddled with a series of overlapping shadows colored and speckled in different shades of black and grey. I opened the thick, white front door of my house and was greeted by an empty hallway. Sliding off my shoes, I headed upstairs to drop my backpack off in my room before going right back down to raid the fridge. I was literally starving.

“Korbin,” my mother called out from somewhere in the house, probably the living room. I could hear the television going, probably on the channel of my mother’s favorite TV show. “There’s food for you in a container on the bottom shelf already prepared! Do you want me to heat it up for you?” She asked. I heard her adjust and begin to stand up to head to the kitchen.

“Thanks, Mom. No, I got it,” I responded, hearing her sit back down softly on the couch.

“Ok, hunny!”

            I walked into the living room, after I had nuked my food in the microwave, to see my mother lying across the width of the loveseat with her knees curled a little to make room for her whole body on the couch.

“Where’s dad?” I asked as I adjusted myself for consumption of my food. I asked the question right as I shoved a whole bunch of food into my face, but she was a mother. She understood.

“He was downstairs for most of the day, but he got called into work to pick up half of someone’s shift. He’ll be home later, like one.”

“In the morning?”

“Yes, why?”

“Gross. That’s a disgusting time.”

“He’ll probably wake me up,” she responded.

“Mom, ew, no.”

“That’s not what I meant, Korbin. I meant that he’ll be loud.”

“Oh, that’s…much less ew,” I paused, and then sighed dramatically.

“What?”

“Mrs. Schultze put me, Erik and Sarah in a group today,” I explained, sprawling myself out on the bigger couch and ignoring my food.

My mother was distracted by the television and forgot to respond for a short time.

I waited patiently.

“Oh,” she said, snapping back to our conversation. “Isn’t Erik the one who hates you?” she asked.

“I never said he hates me,” I responded.

“You have implied it on multiple occasions.”

“Ugh, stop.”

“Am I wrong?”

“…No.”

I scooped another spoonful of food in my mouth.

She chuckled at a funny part in her show. “Has he said that to you specifically?” she asked.

“That he hates me?”

“Yes.”

“Mama, he’s a little more subtle than that,” I said.

“Well, not everyone is as smart as you,” she bragged.

“True,” I said, accepting the compliment humbly, not. “Anyway, I’ve never been sure that he hates me. It’s just the way he acts around me.”

“Always the optimist Korbin,” my mother remarked sarcastically. “Sarah is this girl you’ve had a crush on since you were born, right?”

“MOM!” I blushed, turning to face the back of the couch so she couldn’t see me.

“Again, am I wrong?” she repeated.

“…No.” A familiar exchange.

“Well, great, invite them over tomorrow to work on the project and I’ll make you guys some goodies, and dinner.”

“Don’t refer to anything as goodies around them, mom. That sounds legitimately terrifying.”

“Calm down, just invite them over.”

“Why is the whole world against me,” I thought dramatically.

Well, just great, my mother wants me to invite my crush and arch nemesis over to sup. “Fine,” I said humorously. “I’ll do just that.”

Of course I would have to now. She was expecting it. Ugh.

I stood up from the couch, having finished all of my food, and headed towards the stairs. Without even looking, I threw my bowl, and spoon, in a high arc. They landed in the sink, almost twenty feet away, perfectly.

I vaulted the railing of the staircase and bounded up the stairs three at a time reaching the top in seconds. I then took a left, turning directly into my room and crashing face first onto my bed in exhaustion.

“AH,” I yelled into my thick blanket.

I quieted down and laid there for a while, busy thinking about what I was going to tell Sarah and Erik tomorrow to get them to accept the invitation to come over. Really, there was no way they could refuse. We needed to work on the project, and I was going to offer a place to work away from trouble, so, it was the best option.

I would get so much attention for having two of the most popular people at my house. It was amusing, terrible, and frightening at the same time. I spent so much time trying to avoid attention, and now I was going to get a lot of it. Yay.

It only took me an hour to get the majority of my homework done. I sat at the end of my bed with my head resting on top of my knees, which I clutched close to my chest, thinking about how I was going to start the outline to this project. Were my mother to walk upstairs, she would probably wonder what was wrong, come sit by me, and take an hour to leave because she would think I was lying to her and just didn’t want to talk about it.

There was a constant nagging in my stomach, a desire to talk to Sarah. With any luck she would be over tomorrow, but Erik would be too, so that sucked. Hopefully Sarah would be able to control him in my house the same way she did in school. At any rate, she made us promise to get along, that promise should still hold true tomorrow.

After a while I decided that I just didn’t have the drive to work on the project tonight. It was already almost nine, and I hadn’t even started it. I didn’t need to; I just wanted it done, but I guess I could put it off for a little while.

Tired and out of it, I laid my head down on the soft, cushioned warmth of my pillow. It was the most sleep I would get in a very long time. I tended to get to sleep at one or two in the morning, just because I like to be in the skies, but I also had to wake up at six in the morning. The lack of sleep didn’t affect me as it did other people. Four hours was closer to six or seven for me, but I hadn’t been sleeping much, so the amount of sleep I would be getting tonight would be amazing.

Ever since I learned to fly, whenever I could get away, I would practice increasing my power, to become stronger. It’s highly possible that no one on Earth would ever see me use them; it’s not like this world had any supernatural entity conspiring against it. There was no power struggle between nations where my power would be necessary to save lives. Yes, there were wars, but I hold no part in them, and, at the current rate, I probably never will. There is conflict, but its touch doesn’t sway me. It never has. The way I face bullying in school is proof of that. I rolled over in my bed to face the window, releasing a long sigh.

“Life is rough,” I said to myself quietly, but speaking as if someone else was in the room with me. “Honestly, what’s the use of having all of this power if I can’t use it?” With that I dozed off, quietly falling into the thrall of slumber and submitting myself to the dreams that the night would bring. 

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy! This is the link to my wattpad account - If you get to this point, if you could, go here, create an account if you don't have one already and give me a few extra views and votes! It'll help me out a lot and I'll appreciate it so much! https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/75264681-genesis